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Time is rhythm: the insect rhythm of a warm humid night, brain ripple, breathing, the drum in my temple—these are our faithful timekeepers; and reason corrects the feverish beat.

— Vladimir Nabokov Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle (1969)

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More quotes by Vladimir Nabokov

I think like a genius, I write like a distinguished author, I speak like a child.

Strong Opinions (1973)

What is this jest in majesty? This ass in passion? How do God and Devil combine to form a live dog?

In due time history will have denounced everybody.

Pale Fire (1962)

Whenever in my dreams, I see the dead, they always appear silent, bothered, strangely depressed, quite unlike their dear bright selves.

Speak, Memory (1951)

The distinct feature of everything extant is its monotony.

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A generation which ignores history has no past —and no future.

Robert A. Heinlein Time Enough for Love (1973)

From now on, everything in life will appear blurry to me. What’s the point of wiping my glasses when my vision has already left me?"

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You can never plan the future by the past.

Edmund Burke A Letter to a Member of the National Assembly (1791)

Nothing is there to come, and nothing past,
But an eternal now does always last.

Abraham Cowley Poems (1656)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Vladimir Nabokov (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.